ballard



G.- L. BALLARD.

cmcuun KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 9.19I5- Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

- inventor:-

G. L. BALLARD.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9. I915. 1,3 1 7, 1 5 1 Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Int/671165".- Georye Lawbn Eduard,

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

GEORGE L. BALLABI), 0F NORBISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILDMAN MFG.

C0,, NOBRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CIRCULARr'KNITTIN G MACHINE.

Application filed January 9, 1915. Serial No. 1,402.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. BALLARD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Norristown, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In circular rib knitting machines, vari-' ous forms of connectlng means between'the. needle cylinder and needle d1al have been provided for maintaining them in prescribed relation, the simplest of which comprises dogs within the needle cylinder, one being fixed to the dial and the other being fixed to the cylinder, these bein tion or in contact with each other through the interposed fabric so that the dial can have no movement relative to the needle cylinder and its needles will be properly indexed or spaced with relationto the cylinder needles.

In the type of machine in which the needle cylinder is fixed the dogs serve to hold the dial against movement so that the relative positions of these parts will be mamtained.

In the type of machine in which the needle cylinder rotates the dogs serve to drive the dial in unison with the needle cylinder but in both types where the dogs just mentioned are employed, the fabric has to pass between the opposing pressure surfaces of the dogs, resulting as stated in the objection men tioned.

To avoid this objection, in the fixed cylinder and dial type of machine the dogless forms of machines have been devised, such as shown in Letters Patent of the United tates to Butz No. 1,012,982, December 26, 1911; Ballard,No..1,012,966, December 26, 1911 and Butz No. 1,120,444, December 8 191 1, in which the interlockingdogs within. the needle cylinder and between itand the dial are omitted and an overhead connection is made between the dial post and an encircling frame ring, this connection involving in connec shifting1 locking means, with a cam for operatlng t e same to permit the passage thereby of a thread guide. Such construction adds a number of parts to the machine and necessitates additional work on the part of the operator in threading, especially where a number of feeds are employed.

My present invention is an improvement upon the type of machine first mentioned, 2'. a, that type havin the dogs between the cylinder and dial. fily object'is to adhere to the simple arrangement of interlocking dogs but to avoid the objections heretofore;

existing thereto.

In carrying out my invention therefore I emplo connecting or contact means between the cy inder and dial having a plurality of contacting portions which act intermittently, and alternately as connecting means and when not so acting as connecting means provide for the free and unrestrained passage of the fabric, which therefore can be taken up or drawn from the knitting head without being dragged between contacting surfaces. By my invention only a low takeup tension is needed. The fabric is relieved from undue strain and therefore holes will not be pulled in the fabric and the fabric will not be streaked ormarred.

The invention consistsin the features and combination and arrangement of arts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a central vertical sectionalview of the dial and cylinder of a knitting machine with my improvements combined therewith, parts belng shown 1n elevation.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the needle cylinder and dial post with connecting or holding means in place.

ig. 3 is a detail view.

I have shown the invention as applied to that type of machine in which the needle cylinder is rotated and in which therefore the needle dial must be rotated in unison with the needle cylinder.

In these drawings, 1 isthe needle cylinder, 2 the dial, 3 the needle cylinder cam box or ring, 4 the dial cam, 5 the .gear which rotates the needle cylinder, 6 the posts extending up from the fixed'base 7 and 8 is the cross yoke fixed to the posts 6 and to which the dial post 9 is fixed.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept, 30, 1919 from the knitting head and these gates or passes are opened in alternation, so that while the fabric is permitted to pass down freely through one gate or way without be ing subjected to pressure by the holding or driving means, at the other gate or gates or ways the members thereof will be closed and will thus be performing their function of holding the dial against movement relative to the cylinder, this condition obtaining for a brief moment, after which these members will open to allow the fabric to pass freely here and at the same time the gate or pass first mentioned will be closed, so that now the contacting parts thereof will perform the function of holding the dial against movement relative to the needle cylinder and in this way, the fabric will be free to pass first at one point and then at another point and at no point will the fabric bedragged between surfaces pressing one upon the other.

Various means may be provided for carrying out my invention in respect to the features just mentioned but in the particular construction shown, as an example, I employa plurality of cylinder dogs 10 and a plurality of dial dogs 11.

The cylinder dogs may be of various forms but in the particular construction shown, I use dogs substantially like those disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States granted to me June 23, 1914-, No. 1,101,888. These dogs may be variously supported but in the particular construction shown they are fixed to the needle cylinder and project inwardly in relation thereto as shown. The dial'dogs also may be of various forms but in the particular construction shown, I use arms or levers 11 pivoted on shoulder screws 12 carried by and depending from the dial. The outer ends of these levers or arms are borne upon by the cylinder dogs and in the type of machine in which the needle cylinder is driven the dogs form the driving connection by which the dial is rotated in unison with the needle cylinder, it being understood of course that when the fabric extends down within the cylinder, it lies between the opposing faces of the outer ends of the levers 11 and the dogs 10 so that while no actual contact occurs under these conditions between these faces they are, in effect, in contact in so far that by them the dial is held against movement relative to the needle cylinder or in other words in the particular form illustrated, the dial is rotated by the needle cylinder. The inner ends of the dial dogs or levers 11 have acting upon them a controller member 12 in the form of asleeve or collarhaving depressions 13 and high parts 1i. Rollers 15 may be carried by these levers or dogs to reduce friction. This controller or cam surrounds the hub 17 0f the dial which inturn surrounds the dial post 9. It has cars 18 engaged by shouldered pins 19 fixed to a plate 20, fixed by a nut to the screw threaded pin or extension 21 of the dial post. An anti-friction thrust bearing is arranged between the contact portion 22 of the plate 20 and the bottom face of the dial hub, said bearing including the anti-friction balls 23 and the carrying or spacing ring 2st. The dial post in the particular construction shown is stationary, being connected with the cross yoke above mentioned and it therefore holds the controller or cam fixed by means of the plate 20 and pins 19 and as the needle dial rotates the inner ends of its dogs or levers 11 will pass over the high parts and depressions of the cont-roller or cam in rapid succession. lVhen the high parts are in action, the dogs 11 are forced into connecting or driving relation with the dogs 10 or in effect, in contact therewith, it being understood, as stated, that the fabric lies between them, and thus these dogs will impart the rotation of the needle cylinder to the needle dial and then when the inner end. of the lever or dog 11 is passing one of the depressions 13, said lever at its outer end will be free to recede from the dog 10 and release the pressure on the fabric which is then perfectly free to be drawn down by the take-up without being subjected to the pressure or drag of the opposing dogs and requiring only a low tension pull from the take-up. The high or low parts of the cam or controller are in such number relative to the number and position of the dogs or levers 11 that while some of the dogs are be ing acted on by the high parts, other dogs will be freed by the depressions and then this condition will be reversed, the dog or dogs which were first pressed by the high parts to perform the dial holding or driving function will be released by the low part or parts of the cam and then the dog or dogs which were free for the passage of the fabric will now be set up against the cylinder dogs 10 to perform their part or function of driving the dial.

This successive action or alternate dial driving and fabric releasing function may be accomplished to diiferent degrees of frequency for each revolution of the machine but by way of example, I have shown four sets of dogs, and six high and low parts to the cam or controller so that two sets of dogs will be performing their dial driving function while the other two sets will be in released condition to allow the fabric to pass freely between their opposing faces. At each revolution of the machine in the construction shown, each dog 11 will contact with the cylinder dog six times and likewise it will be released six times for each revolution.

It will be understood that these dogs which are in contact are in this driving re lation only for a brief moment and notwithstanding the fact that the fabric is clamped between them the action of the take-up is not sufficient to drag the fabric through because of the elasticity of the fabric between the take-up and the point where the fabric is momentarily clamped and because a takeup with a loW pulling force may be employed. This clamping of the fabric is immediatelyfollowed by the separation of the dogs at this point whereupon the fabric passes freely. The arrangement is such that one or more dogs are in dial holding or driving relation at all times. The number of dogs may be two fora small diameter,

machine or any desired number may be used in larger diameters. The dogs which are released will be moved to their holding or driving position before the other dogs are.

tact surface or part of one member of each;

pair of dogs may be self-adjusting in order that said surface will assume a parallel relation to its opposing surface for an even distribution of the pressure throughout the con tacting surfaces. Various means may be provided for this purpose but as an ex ample, I show a separate piece 25 having a flat front face and acsemi-s herical back face, this piece being self-ad ustable in a socket at the end of'the dog lever. The

sleeve or collar: forming the controller or cam may be moved up on the hub of'the dial in order to set all the levers 11 in their driving position against the dogs 10.- This is done, in setting up the machine. Then the sleeve is dropped down leaving some of the dogs in their driving relation and some in their released conditione As above pointed out, my invention is applicable to either type of machine, that is,

one in which the; needle cylinder rotates or one in which the needle cylinder is fixed. The above description applies mostly to the former type. When appliedjto the latter type the dogs will act as holding means for the dial to prevent its rotation, and said dogs will be released in succession or in pairs successively by the cam or controller which in this :casewouldbe rotated by the dial post, this-in turn being rotated by the In the case of holes existing in the fabric above a dog the opening of the dog will allow this perforated part of the fabric to pass freely through. This avoids the obection heretofore existing of the fabric at the hole catching on the dog, and holding back, this requiring the operator to insert a hook within the needle cylinderand pull the fabricdown by hand -Where in this specification or claimsreference is made to the cylinder dog, it will be understood that these terms are used in a generic sense; and are not limited to a dog attached directly to the, needle cylinder as said dog may be otherwise located than on the cylinder itself, as for instance, the dog may be carried on the take-up supporting arms which depend from the cyl-. inder. disposing the dogs at different points circumferentially of the dial or cylinder,.as

the dogs may be otherwise disposed to secure:

a release of the fabric at one point thereon while it is clamped between the holding or driving members at some other point.

- One characteristic feature. of the invention is connecting means between the needle cylinder and dial, whether these parts rotate or remain fixed, said connecting means being operable for the unrestrained passage of Neither is the invention limited to,

the fabric therethrough and further in combination with such operable connecting means, means for operating the connecting means. Neither is the invention limited to the dial dogs as the ones that are vibrated to secure the driving or holding contact in alternation with the fabric releasing action.

A conventional representation of a takeup is shown in Fig. 1 in which X indicates a take-up roll and Y indicates a worm wheel by which it is driven. The hangers Z are shown broken away and the roll appears much closer to the knitting head than in actual practice, this method of indicating the fabric take-up being for convenience of illustration.

I claim:

1. In combination in a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, a needle dial and connecting means between them to maintain them in fixed relation to each other, said connecting means having a plurality of asses for the fabric, with means for effooting the opening of said passes in succession for the unrestrained movement of the fabric therethrough, the opening of each pass being followed by the closing of its members to thereby maintain the needle cylmachine, a needle cylinder, a needle dial and a plurality of vibrating connecting members between them past which the fabric must move, said connecting members acting to altern'ately release the fabric and maintain the prescribed relation between the needle cylinder and dial, aid members acting in succession, substantially as described.

3. In combination in a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, a needle dial and connecting means between them for maintaining the dial against movement relative to the needle cylinder, said means comprising a plurality of pairs of opposing members, one member of each pair being connected to the cylinder and the other member of each pair being connected with the dial, each of said pairs of opposing members having a pass between them for the movement of the fabric, and means for opening the pass at one pair of members for the free movement of the fabric while the other pair of members remain closed to maintain the relation between the needle cylinder and dial, and for then closing the first pair of members, and opening the second pair of members whereby the fabric willbe released at different points in succession to pass away from the knitting head, while the prescribed relation between the cylinder and dial will be maintained, substantially as described.

4. In combination in a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, aneedle dial, connecting means between them disposed at a plurality of points, circumferentially about the fabric for maintaining the prescribed relation between the dial and cylinder, said connecting means being alternately open and closed for the free passage of the fabric and for maintaining the prescribed relation, the connecting means at one point being closed while the connecting means at anotherpoint is open, substantially as described.

5. In combination in a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, a needle dial, a plurality of dogs on the cylinder, a plurality of dogs on the dial, said dogs maintaining the dial in a prescribed relation to the cylinder, and means for effecting the opening of the dogs in succession to allow the fabric at one point to pass freely between the dogs while other dogs are closed to maintain the prescribed relation between the cylinder and dial, substantially as described 6. In combination, a needle cylinder, a

needle dial, a plurality of vibrating dogs 4 carried by one of said parts and in connection with the other of said parts to maintain the prescribed relation between them, and past which vibrating dogs the fabric must move and a controller for operating said dogs in succession to alternately allow the fabric to pass and to assume position to maintain the dial and cylinder in the prescribed relation, said dogs and controller having relative movement, substantially as described.

7. In combination, a needle cylinder, a needle dial, a plurality of vibrating dogs carried by the dial and contacting with parts on the needle cylinder to maintain the said cylinder and dial fixed in relation to each other, and past which vibrating dogs the fabric must move, and a controller for operating said dogs in succession to alternately allow the fabric to pass and to assume a position to main-tain the cylinder and dial relatively fixed, said dogs and controller having relative movement.

8. In combination, a needle cylinder, a

needle dial, a plurality of vibrating dogs carried by one of said parts and in connec tion with the other of said parts to maintain the prescribed relation betweenthem, and past which vibrating dogs the fabric must move and a controller for operating said dogs in succession to alternately allow the fabric to pass and to assume position to maintain the dial and cylinder in the prescribed relation, said dogs and controller having relative movement, said controller being in the form of a cam having high and'low parts to act on said dogs, substan tially as described.

*9. In combination in a rib knitting ma chine, a needle cylinder, a needle dial, a plurality of cylinder dogs, a plurality of dial dogs to contact with the cylinder dogs but with the fabric interposed, and means for opening and closing one dial dog periodically to correspond respectively wlth the periodic closing and opening of another dial dog and to reverse said action, said means comprising a cam or controller ar ranged co-aXially with the dial, whereby the fabric will be free to pass at first one dog and then the other and the cylinder and dial will be maintained in fixed relation by the successively closed dogs.

10. In combination in a rib knitting machine, a needle cylinder, a needle dial, a plurality of cylinder dogs, a plurality of dial dogs pivotally mounted and extending from the cylinder toward the center of the machine, and a controller or cam at the axial center of the machine for operating the dial dogs in succession to effect their movement to and from the cylinder dogs for respectively holding the cylinder and dial fixed relatively to each other or for allowing the fabric to pass the dogs, substantially as described.

11. In combination, a needle cylinder, a dial, a dial post, a plurality of cylinder dogs, a plurality of dial dogs pivotally mounted thereon, and a camor controller connected with the dial post for controlling the movement of the dial dogs toward or away from the cylinder dogs, substantially as described.

12. In combination, a needle cylinder, a dial, a dial post, a plurality of cylinder dogs, a plurality of dial dogs pivotally mounted thereon, and a cam or controller connected with the dial post for controlling the move ment of the dial dogs toward or away from the cylinder dogs, said cam having high and low parts around its upper portion and a high lower part, and being movable upwardly to cause the high lower portion to set the dial dogs up against the cylinder dogs, substantially as described.

13. In combination with a needle cylinder and dial, an automatically vibrating dog, an opposing dog, said dogs forming a connection between the cylinder and dial and between which dogs the fabric must pass, one of said dogs having a self adjust ing bearing to maintain its contact face sub stantially parallel with the contact face of the opposing dog, substantially as described.

14. In combination with a needle cylinder and dial, driving or holding dogs between them and between which dogs the fabric must pass, means for adjusting one of the dogs in relation to the other, one of said dogs vibrating in relation to the other to periodically open the pass between them and a self adjusting bearing on one dog to maintain its contact face parallel with the contact face of the opposing dog, substantially as described.

15. In a knitting machine embodying a needle cylinder and a dial, one tending to move in respect to the other, means for holding said parts against said movement, including abutments located on opposite sides of the fabric extending from the needles to the takeup, and automatic means for moving the abutting face of one of said members in respect to the other in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical plane of such face for facilitating the feed of the fabric, substantially as described.

16. In a knitting machine embodying a needle cylinder and a dial, one tending to move in respect to the other, a web takeu an abutment associated with the needle cylinder and located on the outer side of the fabric between the needle and the takeup, a companion abutment associated with the dial and located on the inner side of the fabric, said abutments having co-acting faces disposed in a plane substantially radial to that of the dial and cylinder and automatic means for moving said face of one of the members toward and from the other in a direction substantially perpendicular to said radial plane.

17. In a knitting machine embodying a needle cylinder and a dial, one tending to move in respect to the other, a web takeup,

an abutment associated with the needle cylinder and located on the outer side of the fabric between 'the needle and the takeup, a companion abutment "associated with the dial and located on the inner side of the fabric, said abutments having co-acting faces disposed in a plane substantially radial to that of the dial and cylinder and automatic means formoving said face of one of the members toward and from the other in an arcuate path.

18. In a knitting machine embodying a needle cylinder and a dial, one tending to move in respect to the other, a web takeu an abutment associated with the needle cy inder and located on the outer side of the fabric between the needle and the takeup, a companion abutment associated with the dial and located on the inner side of the fabric, said abutments having co-acting faces disposed in a plane substantially radial to that of the dial and cylinder, automatic means for moving said face of one of the abutments toward and from the other in a direction substantially perpendicular to said radial plane, and means for varying the positions of engagement of the abutments in respect to the dial and cylinder.

19. In a knitting machine in combination a needle cylinder, a dial, an abutment on the needle cylinder, a lever pivotally mounted on the underside of the dial and having at one end a surface for co-acting with said abutment and means cooperating with the other end of the lever for movin said sur- 1 face toward the abutment and fbr permitting said surface to move away from the abutment.

20. In -a knitting machine, in combination a needle cylinder and a dial, anabut- 5 ment on the needle cylinder, a lever mounted on the dial to move about an axis parallel with the axis of the latter, said lever havig at one end an abutting surface cooperating with a side face of the abutment on 110 the cylinder and means cooperating with the other end of the lever for determining the position of said surface in respect to said face of the abutment.

21. A knitting machine having a needle 1 cylinder, a needle dial, cam carriers, and means to cause relative movement between said cam carriers and said needle cylinder and dial, in combination with a series of dogs on said needle cylinder, a series of dogs 1 on said needle dial respectively on dlflerent sides of the forming fabric, and means for moving each dog of one of said series oncumferentially into and out of pos1t1on to engage members of the other series.

22. A rib knitting machlne having a needle dial, two or more levers on said dlal, dogs carried by said levers, and dogs on a relatively fixed part of said machine for coaction w th sa d d gs th g theiflbrwi 111 combination with cam mechanism rotatable with respect to said dial for operating said levels in a predetermined order to cause said fixed and movable dogs to approach and separate in a predetermined order.

23. In a knitting machine, dial holding means comprising relatively fixed abutments, two or more dogs, levers carrying said dogs, an operating connection for said 10 levers, and means for moving said operating connections to hold one or more of said. dogs in an operative position with respect to said fixed abutments during release of another of said dogs.

In testimony whereof, I afix my signature 1 5 ISABEL G. RALSTON, IRVING P. MoANGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, 1L 0." 

